Speaking truth to power is never a safe route to career advancement in policing, but is clearly necessary on those occasions when government counter-terrorism policy is unintentionally proving to be counter-productive, however well-intentioned.
So say two former London police officers who have written a recommendation for practice aimed at practitioners of community-based counter-terrorism policing.
They are Dr Tim Parsons, former City of London Police inspector now senior lecturer in the masters degree (MSc) in Crime, Safety and Security at London Metropolitan University; and Dr Bob Lambert, a former lecturer at London Met. Their ‘Community-Based Counterterrorism Policing: Recommendations for Practitioners’ was published in October 2016.
The recommendations are aimed at highlighting how aspects of counterterrorism policy and practice may sometimes be at odds with one another. It aims to reconcile tensions and is based on Dr Parsons and Dr Lambert’s experience from working in the police and academic experience from teaching at London Met.
The project started when Tim and Bob were both serving police officers; Tim was the Head of Equality, Diversity and Human Rights in the City of London Police, and Bob was Head of the Muslim Contact Unit in the Metropolitan Police. They write: “To misrepresent or stigmatize the religious beliefs or political opinions of Muslim Londoners either with a track record or with potential of tackling terrorism and violent extremism in the capital is to play into the hands of sophisticated terrorist movements and networks eager to drive a wedge between the communities where they seek recruits and supporters and the authorities employed by the state to disrupt them.”
Tim Parsons said: “It is far better to work constructively towards a common interest, than to be constantly distracted by those issues upon which we disagree. We urge UK policymakers to work constructively in pursuit of shared goals such as increasing protection from violent extremism and terrorism.”
You can read the full publication on the Taylor and Francis website.
Pictured; Westminster Abbey on March 23 behind the police cordon after the Westminster terror attack of March 22.
